Let them see or nah

I was at a festival sat next to a couple with a youngish German Shepherd cross looking dog. It was very busy with people walking past and the dog was clearly anxious. Then a guy carrying a kid on his shoulders came walking up and the dog freaked out, barking it's head off at them. Until it saw them side on and realised it was a kid and a guy rather than a two headed giant then immediately stopped barking and sat back down, looking extremely embarrased.

Had my dog freak out about me getting bored and putting on my full faced helmet that he’d never seen me in as it was for racing autocross/formula SAE. Made for some fun chasing around as he was particularly worried about the helmet itself even after it was off. But, otherwise…

Cats don't care what us large stupid cats do as long as they can't see the bottom of the food bowl.

No, they might not understand. But, also no, you're not traumatizing them.
They do understand what your pain response is, if they've heard it enough. And they recognize that you don't let that out every time you "peel your skin off" so they assume it must not be painful, and therefore nothing to worry about

Bold of you to assume your cat gives a fuck what you do
- My sweet cat does. Shes very stand offish, but if you start crying or being sad she runs up to you. You can even fake cry and she comes running. You try to pet her almost any other time, she nope the fucks out while angry meeping.

Dogs, cats and rabbits understand the concept of a blanket and usually like to get covered by it when it’s too cold. So I think it’s not far fetched to assume they understand clothes.
- Thank you for including rabbits! My bunnies loves catching on blankets and cuddling. Also as of last night, my leopard geckos also love blankets lol
- My smallest dog is probably the smartest, and he not only understands "covering means warmth" but he also has a favorite throw blanket. Even when they've been freshly washed he prefers the flour tortilla patterned blanket, as it's the warmest.
  And when it gets warmer overnight, he will switch to a cooler blanket.
  Haven't managed to train him to put his unused blankets away, he just leaves them wherever he dragged it to last.
  
  Meanwhile, from the dog’s perspective: I still haven’t managed to train my human to leave my blankets where I’ve put them!
  
  Even when they've been freshly washed he prefers the flour tortilla patterned blanket.
  Maybe your dog is just Mexican
- I wonder if fish understand the concept of a blanket
  
  I bet a catfish would understand it, at least
- My cat likes to jump on my shoulders. When I wear clothes, she uses her claws to keep her balance. But when I'm topless, she doesn't use her claws (and instead awkwardly tries to get down). It seems like she knows that clothes mean I'm protected and that she can use her claws without hurting me.
  
  My cats are the same, except kittens. And as a result, probably clumsier. I get stabbed through my clothing more often than I'd like, but less often as time goes on
  
  My cat does the same, but she still uses her claws even if I'm shirtless, so she's only allowed to climb on my shoulders in winter.
  
  My cat likes to use her nails when jumping up in the bed...then shorty after using them to cross my chest or neck to the other side.
- Especially since you can train cats to attack your socked feet if you put them on your hands when you play with them.

My understanding is that this only confuses birds. Birds recognize others based on plumage, and it takes them a while to realize that there isn't a bazillion different humans in their home, just one that changes colors all the time.
- Hats do this for chickens
  I had chickens for a while, and had one particular chicken that was really affectionate towards me (called her Roberta Flock). When I shaved my head she ran from me like she would from everyone else. Took like a week before she realized she could trust me. I think in her mind her friend died and a stranger moved in the same day
- No, my budgie could always recognise me, even when I wore a hat or a mask or coloured my hair shocking pink. At the beginning he didn't like when I wore stripes though.
  He was scared of anyone else (except one of my sisters, even though he rarely saw her) until he got to know them. I don't know if he was going by my voice or what.
  The garden birds recognised me by my clothes though. I had hand tamed a bird with mealworms, and he'd ambush me every time I went into the garden. And my mum got ambushed once when she was dressed similarly to me.
- Except for crows.
  The neighborhood asshole crow knows exactly who old man Willard is and attacks on sight.
  
  I would imagine Crows still take longer to recognize a human than another bird, but you are right. Crows are known to not only create bonds with humans, but also hold grudges. They will play pranks or outright terrorize asshole humans

Always wondered this. I don’t think my cat gives a goddamn but she hides from strangers. My dogs know if I put on certain clothes it’s time for walkies and get excited. My old girl with poor vision will sniff my feet to be extra sure.

I dressed up in a steampunk outfit with a tall hat and long black coat and the cat freaked the hell out.

I don't remember which Animorphs book it is, but at least one of them features a scene with an Andalite (an alien, basically a blue furry centaur with stalk eyes and a tail with a razor sharp scythe) who encounters some humans for the first time in his life, and he is initially terrified and begs the humans to stop when they take off their jackets, as he thinks they are ripping off their own flesh.
- That particular scene is from The Andalite Chronicles book. 😊
  
  Hey, there we go!
  =D
- Oh man that's a callback. I haven't read Animorphs since 6th grade...
  
  I am amazed what they got away with for a 90s book series. The series showed ethical dilemmas with torture, genocide, the treatment of POWs, slavery, fighting an extraterrestrial invasion in the US, and dealing with traitors during wartime.

My dog gets it.
Big part of him as a puppy getting a collar or vest on was seeing me put clothes on.
"Oh, we do this? Okay."

Whenever I take my chihuahua's harness off, he has a look of horror on his face like I just peeled off his skin.
- Are you sure he isn’t just sad that adventure time is over lol